A celebration for book shops across the UK

Book shops organised in store celebrations and promotions to win back customer they lost to online retailers and supermarkets.

The nationwide event started on Thursday the 9th of October and has been dubbed the book equivalent of Black Friday.

The event which is referred to as ‘Super Thursday‘ first started in 2008 the initial aim of the event is to encourage the public to use book shops more and essentially get the nation reading. The celebration helps promote book stores in the run up to Christmas. 315 of the most hotly anticipated hard book novel were released on the Thursday as part of the event.

There are only around 2,300 book shops in the UK as many have closed down due to shoppers opting for the easy access book buying option of online retailers and supermarkets.

Books Are My Bag also held a nationwide campaign of book shops over the weekend. The concept was launched in 2013 by M&C Saatchi and is collaboration between publishers, book shops, authors and artists. The concept includes a limited edition tote bag which this year is designed by notorious artist Tracey Emin.

In such a competitive retail environment, passionate book sellers are all pulling together to promote the joy of bookshops.